4-D Ultrasound

Eight weeks and counting!! Baby Bailee is wiggling like crazy. Lacey says that he is stretching more, and rolling over more, and just moving around more. I keep telling her that he’s just trying to get comfortable, and that Methvins have been known to be pretty active. I enjoy reading to him, we are about a third of the way through the second Bunnicula book and if movement means he like it, then he likes it.
We went to get his pictures taken by way of the 4-D ultrasound yesterday. That was amazing; we got to see his face for the first time. Our next doctor’s appointment is in two weeks. I will probably put the baby seat in the back of the car after mom and dad return from Georgia, which will be about 6 weeks from his estimated arrival. The baby room is coming together. We have most of what we think we need.
Ava has adopted Fredbird as her baby. He is currently sitting, (strapped in), in baby Bailee’s stroller. Lacey said that Ava had a big time pushing baby Fredbird around the living room. Fredbird became her baby after I told her that my butt is too big to sit in a bumbo. We then put Fredbird in the bumbo and she proceeded to feed him a dinosaur and some block animals, it was a good time. Carla told me that when her and Ava were headed over to our house last week they were talking about baby Bailee and Ava said, “baby Bailee’s gonna be my friend.” I don’t know if it gets any cuter than that.
The diaper spreadsheet has become quite famous. I am going to include it on here, (if I can). Anyone that wants to use it can change the date of birth and the weight at the time of birth and the rest of the chart will change.
The color of my thumb, (green or black,) remains in question. My initial attempt at gardening on a small scale has yielded mixed results. I know that anyone with a successful garden will find this funny but, I find it very frustrating that I give plants sunlight and water and they don’t grow. I understand that it is in the combinations of those two things where my problems most likely lie. Oh well, I have all the time in the world to get better at it, or at least until baby Bailee starts eating real food.
Lacey has told me that I am going to have to stop calling baby Bailee, “baby Bailee,” or he could think that his first name is “baby.” I understand and will stop calling him baby Bailee once he arrives. Until then though, I will continue to call him baby Bailee because I think that it’s cute.

12 weeks to go

One day closer to Baby Bailee’s birthday. Today is 28 weeks, so we only have 12 more to go, (maybe 9 if he decides to show up early.) I know that I’ve said this before but, I’m so excited. Bailee’s room is starting to look like a baby’s room. His bed and dresser are where we want them. We need a rocker or glider, but I think that my mom is going to get one of those for us. I am super excited about reading to baby Bailee. I am going to read a chapter of something to him every night. He seems to enjoy being read to already, (as I mentioned before.)
Lacey is getting different stories about babies sleeping habits. Currently Bailee wakes up at some pretty odd hours. I know she was up last night at around two because he was exercising, (or something). Lacey’s friends have warned her that what his sleeping habits are while in the womb will be his sleeping habits when he arrives. Lacey has also done some research on various baby blog and/or baby message board websites. The information from the internet contradicts the information she has received from her friends. Not that it matters any way, I’m sure it will take him a little while to get used to sleeping at night and being up during the day, (as much as a baby is up.)
Lacey had so much fun at her baby shower yesterday. We got lots of good stuff. I am still torn about whether or not to get a changing table. We had decided against it because there are beds, couches, or an ottoman in our house in all the rooms that we might need a changing table. The playpen also has a changing table on it. I think the reason that I was questioning our changing table decision was because of all the stuff that we got. I was thinking of the changing table as more a place to keep the changing supplies organized. We don’t need a changing table.
I think baby Bailee was playing with me last night. I was poking and rubbing on Lacey’s belly and he would kick, (or punch,) my hand. Things like that are so cute and are what make me so excited. I can’t wait to see the little guy. We are going to the doctor this Wednesday. I think doctor visit is just to check progress.

Getting Closer

We’re getting closer every day. Baby Bailee is an active little buger, which is good. We are approximately 13 weeks and some change away. I am so excited. I feel like we have plenty of diapers, at least to get through the end of the year, (see The Diaper Spreadsheet) so I’m not exactly sure what else we need for Baby Bailee. But Lacey’s shower is coming up, after that we can converse with some of the other mommies we know to see what additional supplies we need to acquire.
Baby Bailee’s room is painted, (thank you Rhonda) so our next task is to start getting it organized. Lacey asked me to do it yesterday, but I didn’t (for no particular reason). We need to move his furniture to where we want it. Then I’m not sure what comes after that. I need a rocking chair (or glider, I’m not sure) and a small table to go next to the rocking chair to set a lamp on. Is it good to have a lamp in a baby’s room? Maybe I could get a tall lamp that can go behind the rocking chair. I like that idea better.
I intend to read to baby Bailee every night. I have started this on a somewhat limited basis. I have been reading to him most night before bed, and he seems to enjoy it. I think he enjoys it, I’m basing this opinion on the fact that when I read to him, he does stuff. He was very active last night when we started Bunnicula.
On an entirely unrelated subject, my tree is dying. I set it outside on one of the warm sunny days recently, but then forgot to bring it back in. Its limbs are starting to curl and it’s changing to a pale sickly green color. While this is discouraging, it’s not the end of the world. I will just need to remember to bring house plants in before I go to bed. My other plants are doing splendidly, possibly because they haven’t been left outside.

Baby Bailee is on the move!

Baby Bailee has been very active these last few days. Lacey said that he was practicing his somersaults and jumping-jacks last night. I rested my hand on her stomach last night and felt a little movement. I’m so excited. Lacey will be at 21 weeks this Sunday. I plan to start reading to Baby Bailee soon, the books said that he will be able to recognize, (maybe acknowledge) sound. I would like to get in the habit of reading to him every night. We can work on getting him on a sleeping schedule before he’s even popped out. “Popped out” sounds weird. Lacey has been feeling sickly, and like the sleeping, I don’t know if there is anything I can do to ease her suffering.
On a less interesting subject, I don’t really care for World Lit 1 or 2. I know it’s strange but I vastly prefer Tax Accounting class or Management Information Systems to any of my liberal arts classes, at least I will be done with them after this semester.
Speaking of taxes, I need to do Lacey’s and my taxes. That didn’t sound right. Filling out a 1040 doesn’t seem as difficult as I originally thought. I am confident that I can do it. Plus it is good practice for future income tax adventures.
We should be about two weeks removed from our next doctor visit. Dr. Leslie said that he would have them do another ultrasound so we will get to see baby Bailee again in two weeks, (approx.) Baby Bailee should be about 10-12 inches tall right now, according to the baby books.
Spring training will be starting shortly. Pitchers and catchers report in about two weeks, I think. I think spring training starts sometime in March. I want to get a baby shirt or onesy that says “babies first opening day” for next year. I’m so excited about the fun stuff Lacey and I am going to get to do with baby Bailee. That should be what I write about next, a list of fun stuff to do with baby Bailee.
It just started snowing, again. We are supposed to get more snow today and tomorrow. I hope the trash routes can run on Friday.

The Diaper Spreadsheet

Lacey is making fun of me. I think that making a spreadsheet to forecast diaper usage is being prepared and trying to not be wasteful. There are a finite number of “N” diapers that baby Bailee will need. After he outgrows “N” diapers then they will be of no use to us. So I think an estimate about how many we will need is a good thing. Lacey thinks that I am a huge dork for making a diaper spreadsheet. I just thought that I could predict how many diapers we would need so we never, (I say “never” as loosely as possible,) run out. I simply got on line and checked for the average weight of a newborn, (7.5 pounds,) and started adding 5-8 ounce a week until baby Bailee reaches 10 lbs., which is the limit for N diapers. There is some discrepancy about how many diapers a baby will go through a day. The website I found said 10, but Matt said 100 a week (100/7 = 14.24) so I went with the bigger estimate. I think that multiplying the number of diapers per day by the number of days that baby Bailee is less than 10 lbs. should tell me how many N diaper I need. I think that making spreadsheets is fun, (and I know that in itself is a little dorky,) but I want to be prepared as much as possible. I also know that no matter how many books I read, I will never be fully prepared for fatherhood. However if I am as prepared as possible, that would be better than not being prepared at all. I think I’m rambling.
I also wish that my darling wife was sleeping better. She isn’t getting much rest and I know that the lack of sleep is hard on her and also hard on baby Bailee. I don’t know if there is a fix for this one. Any parent I mention it to kind of chuckles unsympathetically, as if to say “just wait.” We understand that baby Bailee is going to seriously change our sleeping habits.

It’s a Boy!!!

It’s a boy!!! We went to see Dr. Leslie on Monday, and we got to see baby Bailee for the second time. It seems pretty apparent that we have a pretty clear picture (I think), of his “boy parts.” Dr. Leslie however advised us that sometimes what you see on an ultrasound can be deceiving. I’m excited none the less. I would also be excited if he had been a she, as long as he or she is a happy, healthy baby. I am excited. Lacey and I went to Springfield Monday afternoon and bought some stuff for baby Bailee, mostly clothes. I am excited. I know that is getting repetitious but I can’t help it. Lacey seems to be doing awesome so far, she hasn’t gotten sick very much, but she doesn’t sleep very well, and I don’t know how to fix that. I don’t want her to take any medication to make her sleep, but I know she needs her rest. I admit that sometimes I am part of the problem when it comes to her sleeping. Between monkeys, snakes, earthworms, and tax problems, I can be a vocal sleeper (and an active one.) Her due date is 5 months from yesterday, (June 20th) and I couldn’t be happier. I am excited about taking baby Bailee to his first opening day next spring. I am excited about numerous other “first.” I am most excited about just getting to meet my son this summer. That sounds weird to me, “my son.” Not weird in a bad way, just weird that I have never felt this way about someone I haven’t even met and won’t meet for another 5 months.